February 17, 2013

Mercedes Marathon results

Today was the day for my hometown just-for-fun marathon. Turns out that being in your hometown (and possibly built-up annoyance from my two recent less-than-15-second misses on BQing) puts a fire under your legs.

It was definitely my day out there. Finally!!!

Special thanks to my brother for tugging me along to the finish! Love ya, bro! And thanks to my hometown and the amazing running community here for being an inspiration to me as a newbie runner when I first moved here. Birmingham was where my runner birth happened, so it feels fitting that I finally hit my BQ on my home turf.

Around mile 24 with my big brother Jimmy. Are we in the same season?

Final results: 3:34:42 and 9th in my age group.

I cried for about 20 minutes after I crossed the finish line. Every stranger I talked to got to hear about my personal miracle that happened today. Thanks for acting interested, strangers!

And thanks to all of you who encouraged me when my misses were near (MS River and Savannah) and far (Rocket City). You lifted me when I was down.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!! I am so excited for you. I actually just teared up a little when I read that you finally nailed it!!!! Congratulations times a million!!!! You so deserve it!! (not sure I could use any more exclamation points, sorry).

I actually ran behind/near you for most of the race--great job! I didn't realize that I recognized you from your blog until I was talking with a friend after the race. Your hair was really cute, and your brother was a great cheerleader. After he stopped running with you, I kept seeing him waiting and cheering you on.

That is so cool!!! He is a champ! He came back to run me in at the end. He kept saying we were running slow, and I kept shushing him. But I couldn't talk to explain that I thought I was going to make it and that my legs actually wouldn't go any faster.:) You probably saw my kids and husband too then. Hope you had a great race today too.

WOW!!! Congratulations to you! Esp after running MS Marathon not so long ago! I'm inspired, hoping maybe I can nab a sub 3:35 this spring (ran 3:42 in Nov). I ran Mercedes as my first marathon 3 yrs ago (sister was in college at Samford at the time and my parents both when to college in Bham, got married there, etc...lots of friends/family there...love Bham) and thought it was a wonderful marathon. CONGRATS! Hope you went to yogurt mountain or savages or somewhere equally delicious! my fave restaurant in bham is bottega and their coconut cake is TO DIE FOR.

It was so great to see you out on the course! It's amazing how blogging can bring so many of us together. My friend Amanda (http://eattolivelivetorun.com) and I also did MS River. Wish we'd seen you there, too.

A huge congratulations on the BQ. That you did it on only one week's rest is amazing. Makes me think Mercedes could be where I attempt to next season.

It did not dawn on me until after the race who you were! Race brain. It was great to meet you in passing. You guys looked like you were having a strong run that day! And having fun too! We should figure out when we'll all be at a race again so we can meet up and at least get a picture.:)